Dr. Gonzo

Which one?

Just bumping this to remind everyone this sale is on midday tomorrow for 24 hours. $10 a game is pretty good usually $25 each. I am looking at getting the following games at this stage; 2000 R7 v WCE 2000 R20 v Freo 2001 R2 v Adel 2006 R10 v St.K 2006 R21 v Geel 1991 R5 v NM 1991 R6 v Coll 1992 R2 v Geel 1994 R4 v Ess 1994 R6 v Coll 1998 R2 v NM 1999 R11 v Coll Was going to get the 1994 finals games amongst some others as well but seeing as though Supermercado is getting those I'm hoping a swap can be arranged instead.

I always thought we could not have won in '87 no matter if we got over the Hawks in the Prelim however the experience of a GF may have put us in a better position in '88 and we may not have been belted like we were. All conjecture but who knows what might have been.

I have at times shared your frustration praha over the last 25 years - I began following the club in 1987 and have hated seeing all my relatives (except my Tigers supporting cousin) celebrate premierships and seeing the Demons never seriously challenge. I was ready to give up on the club after 2001 and crashing out after making the GF and then losing Farmer on top of that. But at the end of the day red & blue blood pumps through my veins. I think it is time to ask questions and it is a pity you didn't post this last week as I would have recommended you attend the AGM and pose these very relevant questions in that forum. Obviously the club is aware of the problems and are attempting to address them but are they doing enough? Are they doing enough to engage new Australians and people from non-football backgrounds? I'm thinking largely of the rising Chinese and Indian communities in Melbourne. Or are they throwing all their eggs in the Casey basket? If so why do they think this will work? Do the kids in the Casey region already have a club allegiance through their families? If so are they likely to switch to the Demons all things considered? We all want the club not just to survive but to thrive. Relocations and mergers are off the table for now but will be back eventually and we can't afford to find ourselves without a seat when the music stops.

The one with Steve Sax and his run in with the law?

I am just so relieved that we tanked and got Trengove as well as $cully - I don't think I could have lived with missing out on Trengove AND Martin.

Yep before this thing's over I reckon they could be the Bad News Bears Mark II.

Yeah wouldn't mind most of the other stuff you're going to pick up - I've got a bunch of other stuff including a classic comeback at Windy Hill in 1990 and Jakovich kicking 7 at Vic Park in 1992 if you want to trade game for game. You can PM me if you want to sort out details. EDIT: Just had another quick look at my tapes and the 1997 R15 match v Carlton is only the replay not the full game - only goes for about half an hour so if you want the full game you should probably pick that one up from Name-A-Game.

Before it gets lost in the usual bickering, I'd just like to say I'm extremely pleased to have it confirmed that Greg Healy will be back at the club in the formal capacity of Football Director. Great news for the club to convince him to come back especially considering his apparent success at Quicksilver.

"Habib told me this is what all the chicks dig up here uleh, but I reckon I look like a big zub!"

Exactly, this is sport and it's based on emotion - there's no need to let logic and reason interfere.

I've got the highlighted ones you've listed if you're interested in trading any games? Some are better quality than others but they're all watchable. Pretty sure you can't get this game as it wasn't broadcast by channel 7 - although thinking about it now surely Channel 7 Perth would have shown it so maybe there is hope, thoguh it's definitely not on Name A Game's list.

I'm not really expecting many (any?) free agency moves initially but after a couple of years it will start to be seen as the norm. I was also surprised by the players outside of the top 25% being unrestricted free agents as initially I thought it was only restricted free agency and was restricted to the top 25% of earners. Ultimately I can see this forcing more clubs into trade situations which is a good thing as clubs are too reluctant to engage in trades where both sides really win - it is usually only players for draft picks rather than player A for player B. The clubs will still need to work within the salary cap and this is where the AFL needs to strictly enforce this (including no 3rd party deals). The AFLPA and player managers can argue this is restricting their capacity to earn however the facts are there are already many industries/professions which preclude you from working/obtaining a wage or salary outisde of your contracted employment. At the end of the day I don't think it will have a massive effect on our game other than to make it easier for a Luke Ball to get to his club of choice without all the stuffing around - this also takes it out of St. Kilda's (in this situations) hands as they can't stop him from leaving and will still be compensated somewhat should he go. The reason I see it having minimal effect though is that most players will want to ensure that their original club is not dudded, such as in the Judd situation where he obviously had a preference to go to Carlton but wanted to ensure the Eagles weren't shafted. It just gives the player greater leverage in the negotiations. Suffice to say it will be very interesting to see how this all plays out and hopefully we don't see players only wanting to go to the big 6 or 7 clubs to the detriment of the clubs like us, North, Dogs, Saints etc.

Yeah thats on my list as well. I was thinking if there's a few of us who want similar games we could buy a couple each and trade the others to each other. I had my eyes on a couple of games around 1990-1992 but am going to go through their catalogue and see what else I may want (maybe a couple from 2000 also).

Spewing about the date, I wanted to attend but am going to see Soundgarden that night.

Just a heads up to anyone interested, Name-A-Game has a sale on February 9th for all Name-A-Game DVD's for $10 each. This doesn't include games they have to master as this costs them $70 apparently but any in their catalogue are included. http://www.facebook.com/sportsdelivered

Just in regard to the bolded I do agree to some extent - however thinking about it, what is the purpose of sponsoring an AFL club? It is to get exposure in the media. Now is that exposure better on the back page of the Herald-Sun? Or is it better hidden away in a small article, possibly with no photos, 5-6 pages from the back?

Not sure if its been posted - more speculation from the Hun although this one indicates we may opt for co-captains in the Sydney model (JT, Grimes & Frawley). http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/demons-likely-to-opt-for-co-captains-model/story-e6frf9if-1226250859080

I agree - this has been discussed before but I'd just like to raise the issue about "firing by phone" again. In the best of all possible worlds, I agree sacking someone by phone should not be done and should be done face to face. However there may have been reasoning behind it other than just being under the pump from 186. The media being what it is and the leaks coming out of the club at the time would have been a consideration as you would not want Bailey finding out he was sacked by reading the Herald Sun the next morning. Hearing it over the phone is much more preferable. The other issue is calling Bailey to an early Monday meeting and not telling him why could be seen as just as bad as firing him by phone. He knows whats going on, you know whats going on, the media and supporters know whats going on so why go through the charade? Best to be up front about it & tell him whats going on. As someone else mentioned this wasn't just a knee-jerk decision following 186. The writing was on the wall after the WCE debacle. It got much much worse after the Carlton debacle and could have come to a head soon after - why do you think there was so much relief after the Essendon win? The past is done and maybe could have been done better but the actions of the club since that time and the personnel they have recruited to the club has me feeling confident again about the club. Only time will tell if that confidence is real or just more false hope.

FMD so now we are the club that kicks our President (the bloke who put his hand up and did the hard yards to bring our club back from the brink when no-one else would) when he is down? Some people here are really suggesting we get rid of Stynes? On what basis? Look at the transformation of the club since he took over. Rome wasn't built in a day and there is still work to go but remember before he came on board we had some tennis wannabe with no clue galavanting around Wimbledon and the club was run by accountants and insurance nerds. Football is more than a business when will people start to realise this? You need the supporters, officials and players to be inspired with the club and its leadership not to merely be able to give the best budget presentation at the AGM. Some people really don't know what they've got til its gone.

I understand the frustration but aren't the memberships all sold out of a central AFL office (I could be wrong). Don't punish the club for the incompetence of some office temps.

Surely the "started off strongly" has to do with the amount of people now on the Direct Debit plans where it automatically rolls over into the next season?

Yeah sorry got confused, it was Leoncelli who was that role and then Stynes took it over when Leoncelli left. Got my wires crossed.

Isn't that basically what Connolly's job has been i.e. reporting to the board as a conduit between the FD and Front Office? He's gone quiet and they may have restructured this role somewhat but I'm not sure whether Connolly will be undertaking the same duties next year? From memory he was moved on (and maybe temporarily replaced by Lyon? My memory is a bit hazy now on all the comings and goings since 186.)

Obviously there was a reason he was made captain in the first place and was the overwhelming choice of the supporters as well judging by the online forums. He had a crap year last year but has been a consistent performer through most of his career (bar maybe one season). He won't be appointed captain just to warm the seat but in a team that has a large majority of our players in the beginning of their careers that is obviously going to be one consideration to take into account. With the experience of a year under his belt as captain (and lets be honest it was a tough year for all the senior players on our list and the FD not just Green) there's no reason why he won't learn from that experience and be a better player, leader and captain in 2012. It's a better option than giving the captaincy to Moloney or Jones who could very well put out a season like Green's 2011 without the experience to fall back on. Giving the captaincy to one of the mid-late 20yo's on our list would prevent the club having to strip them of the captaincy in a couple of years when either Trengove or Grimes (or another young player like Watts) would be ready to take over.